Hitman: Blood Money: Hands-On

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We explore the improved mechanics and dark contrasts of Blood Money. Screens and video included.

By Douglass C. Perry

While raging hormone-teeming teenagers bitch about who sniped each other first in Halo 2, those of us who like a steadier, stealthier kill have discovered the sweet dark work of IO Interactive's Hitman series. Originally introduced on PC in November 2000, the Hitman series has gradually attracted fans for a mixture of reasons, not all of which revolve around pure violence.

Agent 47 is an iconographic character in his own right, silently doing his job with precision and skill and rarely uttering a word. Visually, he's all about the bald head, serious, cold stare, the scan lines on the back of his neck, and a fine suit and tie. Behind the stark graphics and lure of harsh kills, however, the game has grown a massive fan-base because IO has shown a mastery of open-level design, stealth, and replay value like few other stealth games on the market.

At first look, Hitman: Blood Money may not strike you as vastly improved over previous games in the series. In all honesty, this is easily the best looking game in the series, but that's because it's hard to see contact-sensitive mechanics and new moves at work. The screenshots and movies we captured were predominantly from an early Xbox version, which, as you can see, display un-optimized code. You'll see aliasing, some clippings issues, and a decent but not great framerate. But the build we have is far from done; it's not finished, bug-tested, nor optimized. So if you see these images and worry just a little bit, don't. IO's Hitman games have always shined graphically and this year's effort should prove to the best looking one to date.

Start your day off right. Choke somebody.

Call it unwarranted hype if you want, but the team is doing so many things graphically that it's quite unbelievable. For instance, IO is implementing bump mapping, specular highlighting, shader models, refractions, and more on PS2. It was once believed that PS2 couldn't even handle bump mapping. Additionally, IO told us the game will look amazing on PC, practically next-generation level from a graphic standpoint, and should easily be one of the best looking games on PS2 and Xbox. So when you see these visuals, keep in mind the game will improve drastically.

Too cute to kill.

I'll refrain from re-telling the story as I've done in many previous articles, but know that Hitman takes place in several well-known and well-liked places, such as Las Vegas, and he's not the only one assigned to kill. Another assassin is on the prowl and he/she is after him. IO wanted to capture the stark contrast between normal everyday locations and the cold reality of Agent 47's job, the business of assassination. When placed in a normal suburb, or a peaceful amusement park, as opposed to dank, unrealistic or even slightly fictitious place, these new locations should generate a stronger response from players -- of surprise, perhaps shock, horror, or even awe.

And I'll be needing your car, too.

Several of the new abilities in Agent 47's arsenal certainly shocked me. IO's assassin is now capable of simple things that before seemed difficult. He can jump from a 20-story balcony to another one with simple, fluid controls and animations. He's capable of climbing on pipes, wall-sliding across dangerous areas, and as a little surprise to us, he's equipped with an arsenal of hand-to-hand grappling moves. For instance, Dan Adams (EIC at IGNPC) and I played two of the three different versions (Xbox, PS2, and PC) and he almost mistakenly grappled a guard's gun from him, beat him up and shot the second guard to death. Independently I realized the same thing. I beat up a few guys, headbutted one, and found that in contrast to all previous versions, this version provides players with a plethora of disarm and distraction techniques not available in previous games.